Jackson, Rice Standoff Simmers

In an NBA finals series that is beginning to develop some interesting side battles, the contest to watch is the ongoing game between Phil Jackson and Glen Rice.

More than the little squabbles between Derek Fisher and Austin Croshere, or Ron Harper and Mark Jackson, the difference of opinion between Jackson and Rice figures to have a bigger effect on the outcome of the finals and, ultimately, Rice’s future with the Lakers.

Rice said he needs to play more. Jackson--as evidenced through action more than words--thinks Rice’s defensive liabilities don’t merit more playing time.

As the coach, Jackson gets the last word. Sunday, that word was sit.

So Rice spent the first eight minutes of the second quarter on the bench. And he spent the final 2:49 of the third quarter, then almost the entire fourth quarter on the bench as the Lakers lost Game 3 to the Indiana Pacers, 100-91.

Rice finished with only seven points on three-for-nine shooting in 27 minutes.

That followed the late stages of the Lakers’ narrow victory in Game 2, when Jackson kept Rice out during crunch time even though the Pacers had to commit fouls and Rice is the Lakers’ best free-throw shooter. It was a noteworthy decision on a night when Rice scored 21 points to help the Lakers survive after Kobe Bryant went down because of an ankle injury.

With Bryant scratched from the beginning Sunday, it figured to be Rice’s time to fill the nets. That was especially true when the Lakers did not make a concerted effort to establish Shaquille O’Neal at the outset and looked for others to provide the scoring.

No one did, so the Lakers fell behind and stayed there.

What happened to Rice? How did he turn into just another spectator at Conseco Fieldhouse on a night the Pacers double-teamed O’Neal effectively and made him pass more than the first two games?

“I just don’t think that it was a great effort of getting myself involved a little bit more,” Rice said. “I spent a little bit too much time on the bench.”

Rice is convinced the triangle offense doesn’t suit his game. The coaching staff feels if everyone executes the offense properly there will be shots for all.

Now it appears that if he isn’t getting good looks and knocking them down, he won’t be long for the game.

The Pacers keep a man in his face, and whenever Rice tries to drive around him it often results in missed shots or turnovers.

“I thought they bodied Glen well off of any screens we tried to provide for him,” Jackson said. “He caught the ball, he was crowded and pushed into driving. He got a couple of his baskets off the drive, lost the ball a couple of times off the drive. But they identified Glen very well, and I thought they prevented him from getting good looks.”

Meanwhile, Rice must play defense on Jalen Rose, the Pacers’ leading scorer during the regular season.

Rice played 12 minutes in the first quarter and Rose scored eight points in 12 minutes. Rice played four minutes in the second quarter and Rose had three points in 12 minutes, scoring on a fastbreak three-point play with 4.9 seconds remaining.

Rice played nine minutes in the third quarter and Rose scored eight points in nine minutes, all with Rice in the game. Rice missed all but the last 90 seconds in the fourth quarter, and Rose scored two points on a pair of free throws.

When Rice did return, with the Lakers desperate to score points in their last-ditch comeback, he missed a jumper in the lane and then misfired on a rushed three-pointer.

The Pacers’ Reggie Miller made only one of 16 shots in Game 1, but he has the luxury of shooting freely until they start to drop.

For Rice, “That’s an impossible damn task to do,” he said.

“If you sit on the bench for 12 minutes and then you go in the game with a minute and something left, it’s hard to get going.”

There’s not much time for diplomacy at this stage of the season, and don’t expect a summit meeting between Jackson and Rice this week.

“I’m not going to go to him,” Rice said. “I don’t think anything’s going to change. He’s going to do what he’s going to do. I’ve just got to be ready when I’m out there.”

It’s pretty clear that Jackson has established his playing pattern between Rice and Rick Fox. They pretty much split the minutes at the small forward position, with Rice playing the first and third quarters and Fox playing the second and fourth.

Jackson, who has played hunches with great success in the past, might need to break out of the mold.

The one time Jackson made a point of getting the ball to Rice, he scored 12 points in the third quarter of Game 4 at Portland and the Lakers took a key game on the Trail Blazers’ home court.

Also, ever since Fox was ejected for two hard fouls at the end of Game 4 in the Phoenix series, the referees have a quick whistle on him and he picks up fouls faster than you can say “Travis Knight.”

The defensive failures Sunday weren’t all Rice’s fault. O’Neal didn’t play like the defensive force he was in Game 2, and the Pacers trotted in for easy layups in the first half.

But Rice needs to earn more playing time by doing whatever it takes to justify it, including rebounding (he had only one Sunday).

He wants to do it all on offense, including counterattacking Rose.

“I always say when a guy’s into his groove, you’ve got to go back at him,” Rice said.

Rice is in the final year of his contract, and the Lakers have shown an ability to win without major contributions from him. He also has played key roles in two of the team’s past four victories.

He’s at the crossroads now, the situation as confusing as he looked when we last saw him Sunday, wandering the hallways of Conseco Fieldhouse, asking, “Which way’s the bus?”

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address:j.a.adande@latimes.com